Time and snowballs.

Transforming the daily grind into joy: reflections and suggestions.

For months now, I’ve had this gnawing need for change. It's not just one thing – it's a whole constellation of frustrations. Exhaustion that sleep can't cure. A job that used to excite me now feeling like a chore. Any activity that used to spark passion- it's dimmed to barely a flicker. 

Some would slap a neat label on it: burnout. And yeah, that's probably accurate. But here's the thing about burnout – naming it doesn't make it magically disappear. 

No, what you need is change. Real, tangible. And you need it now, before you wake up in five years wondering where your dreams of being a writer went. 

The Achiever's Dilemma 

Let's rewind for a second. How did you get here?

“Time is more valuable than money.”

So some say. The trouble is that this type of thinking or belief might help you develop unhealthy relationships with the time. 

Indeed, many of us have an unhealthy relationship with the time. The same as many of us have a terrible relationship with money — hence, many of us spend so much time working and chasing it. 

“You can always earn more money, but time — that’s a different story.”

If you're anything like me (and let's face it, if you're reading this, you probably are), you've got what the Strenght’s Finder and Marcus Buckingham’s book Now, discover your strengths call the "Achiever" trait. Here's how they describe it: 

“You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon, it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you.”

It's that same drive that got you the last couple of promotions, the impressive LinkedIn profile, and the ability to afford oat milk lattes without flinching. But it's also what's keeping you chained to a desk, churning out deliverables that, let's be honest, probably won't matter in six months. 

You've optimised your calendar within an inch of its life. Every minute is accounted for, and every task is neatly time-blocked. And sure, on paper, it looks impressive. You're Getting Things Done.

But when was the last time you actually enjoyed what you were doing?

When did you last have time to read a book that wasn't related to "improving productivity", "maximizing synergy", or whatever buzzword is trending this week? 

“Research demonstrates that people who are obsessed with their work put in longer hours yet fail to perform any better than their peers.”¹

How small stresses snowball

Here's where it gets insidious. According to the HBR Article, How Small Stresses Snowball by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon, it's not just the big stressors that are wearing us down. It's the accumulation of what they call "microstresses" – those tiny moments of friction that, on their own, seem manageable. But pile them up day after day, week after week, and suddenly you're a burnt-out shell wondering where your creativity went. 

These microstresses fall into three categories: 

1. Microstresses That Drain Your Personal Capacity

This is where your work starts slipping. You're making more mistakes, dropping balls, and then stressing even more about fixing those mistakes. 

2. Microstresses That Deplete Your Emotional Reserves

You're so caught up in the tiny tasks that you lose sight of the big picture. You obsess over tiny details while your actual goals gather dust. 

3. Microstresses That Challenge Your Identity

Remember when you used to feel confident in your abilities? Now every project feels like it's exposing your inadequacies. You start questioning if you're even cut out for this work anymore.

---

So, here's your challenge for this week:  

Take one concrete step towards that Substack dream this week. Maybe it's brainstorming topic ideas. Maybe it's setting up your Substack account. Hell, maybe it's just admitting to yourself that you really, truly want this. 

As Adam Grant writes in “Hidden Potential”:

One of my highlights in this book is this: “The best way to unlock hidden potential isn’t to suffer through the daily grind. It’s to transform the daily grind into a source of daily joy.”

Your full-time job can be something other than a source of burnout. It can be the stepping stone to your real passion. Use those project management skills to plan your exit strategy. Use those writing skills you've developed on countless reports to craft an engaging newsletter that your readers can relate to. 

Success isn't always straightforward. But it starts with recognising that you deserve more than just surviving the work week. You deserve to create something you're proud of, to write words that matter, and to build a community around ideas you care about. 

1. https://books.google.co.uk/books?